Poor man’s asparagus

“Sea Asparagus” or “Poor man’s asparagus” are local names of Rock Samphire or Marsh Samphire, a delicious succulent that grows around the coast of the British Isles and Northern Europe. Originally it was called “Sampier” a corruption of the French,“Saint Pierre,” the patron saint of fishermen. The Old English name for Marsh Samphire was Glasswort. As early as the 14^th century glassworkers had their workshops near a good source of Marsh Samphire using its ashes in glass production. In King Lear, Shakespeare refers to the dangers of gathering the plant, calling it “a dreadful trade.”

Crisp, salty stalks of the plant gathered in May or June can be eaten raw in a salad. It is particularly delicious if blanched and served with butter to accompany fish. The 17^th century herbalist Nicholas Culpepper said it was good for curing “ill digestion and obstructions.” It is rich in iodine, phosphorus, calcium, silica, zinc, manganese and vitamins A,C and D.

It transforms a man into a beast

Oriel College, Oxford has recently acquired an essay by a former student, Sir Walter Raleigh. He warns of the possiblity that alcohol, “transformeth a man into a beast.” Writing about 1600 he adds that strong liquor is a “bewitching and infectious vice.” Having lived in France I regularly enjoy a glass of wine with my evening meal. The Greeks and Romans always watered their wine for the table. Greeks sometimes withdrew afterwards for a symposium, (lit. a drinks party). One historian (Sir Roy Strong) says it was the mark of a barbarian that they only drank to get drunk.

So binge drinking is not the mark of a civilized people, but you could say that sensible drinking is.

Want a snack? Don’t buy a sandwich!

Well if you really must have a sandwich, make it yourself, don’t buy one. The National Consumer Council says that many sandwiches sold in the high street chains contain dangerously high levels of fat and salt. For example Pret a Manger’s dry cured ham, cheese and mustard sandwich contains a massive 584calories, 13.1g fat and 2.55g of salt. Gregg’s chicken and bacon sandwich contains 3.6g of salt which means that just that one sandwich gives you two-thirds of the recommended daily maximum salt intake for an adult! Strangely, a Big Mac is healthier than most sandwiches. By comparison a Big Mac contains only 495calories, 9g of saturated fat, and 2g of salt.

29% of us in the U.K. say we prefer a sandwich for lunch. However, I think I’ve solved the problem. When I have to go up to London I visit the Wasabi sushi bar in Victoria Station. Sushi is so much healthier and quite delicious.

Cholesterol: Fat and fiction

Cholesterol is a fat produced by the liver from the fatty foods we eat and it plays an important part in helping the body function properly. Every liver produces cholesterol so if you eat any animal produce it is bound to contain cholesterol. When you think about cholesterol you need to be aware of two molecules called lipoproteins which carry it around the body. Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) carry cholesterol from the liver and it is these that begin the formation of the plaques that can narrow the artery walls. A clot in a narrowed artery can trigger a heart attack. This is why LDL is often called bad cholesterol. On the other hand, there are high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and these are thought to prevent heart disease. They carry cholesterol back to the liver were it is converted into bile-acid or excreted. You can see why this is referred to as good cholesterol. The amount of cholesterol in the blood can range from 3.6 to7.8 mmol/litre. A level above 6 is considered high. The recommended target level is 5.

MacDonalds and the Spanish Steps

When MacDonald’s decided to open an outlet near the Spanish Steps in Rome in 1986 Carlo Petrini organized a protest. This was the beginning of the Slow Food movement. Three years later, delegates from 15 countries met in Paris to pledge to preserve the diversity of the world’s food. Slow Food is now a global organization with over 80,000 members celebrating the food traditions of 40 different countries. It has founded the world’s only university to promote the gastronomic sciences. The movement takes a vocal stand against intensive farming and processed food. It encourages rare breeds, regional specialities and strives to preserve biodiversity. Every 6 hours one major world plant species is lost for ever. Slow Food works for resourceful self-sufficiency and a frugality that refuses to accept the food waste that is endemic in our culture. A staggering £8billion worth of food is thrown away in Britain every year. Slow Food has over 2000 members in the UK meeting in 48 different areas. See: www.slowfood.org.uk

That Indian Nectar

Henry Stubbs returned from Jamaica in 1662 and wrote a book about chocolate called The Indian Nectar. The cacao tree probably originated in the Amazon Basin and around 600AD was taken to Yucatan by the Mayans. Columbus brought the beans to Europe but no one seemed interested. Montezuma greeted the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes with a bitter frothy chocolate drink. Once the Spaniards learned to soften its taste with vanilla and sugar it became quite the rage. Around 1606 Antonio Carletti managed to take the secrets of the drink to Italy and by 1700 the coffee houses of Venice and Florence were famous for it. Switzerland, now world famous as a chocolatier, learned of it by 1697. London coffee houses quickly served it to their rich customers. Samuel Pepys settled his stomach with it after the coronation feasting of Charles I. It wasn’t until 1828 that Conrad van Houten managed to extract the fat from the cocoa butter and make a powder we would recognize as Cocoa. Twenty years later Joseph Fry combined the fats with other parts of the bean and sugar to give us the first chocolate bar.

Tapas

I’ve just had a marvellous meal in the sunshine with a friend at our local Tapas bar. Originally “tapas” (from “tapar” “to cover”) meant “lid” and referred to the thin slice of cheese or ham that protected your glass of sherry in a hot, insect infested bar in Andalusian. Others say the idea originated in the 13th century when the Castilian King Alfonso X was ordered by his doctor to sip a glass of wine while enjoying small portions of food. A regime thought to aid his recuperation after an illness. He recovered so quickly and so well that he issued a royal decree ordering taverns only to serve wine if accompanied by a small snack. I don’t really care how it started, it is a delicious way of meeting a friend and enjoying a glass of ice-cold Gonzalaz Byass Tio Pepe.